Project Split Personality AC and Audio Install

Covering Interior Features, A/C, And Audio Systems

New kick panels were made for each side. This is a picture of the driver-side panel, which is easily removable to reach the fuse panel.

Rear Compartment And CeilingOne particular area we wanted to change was the rear compartment. The most involved change was in making new side compartment panels to fit around the wheelwells and under the rear windows. Interior Motives in Manchester, Connecticut, made the new panels from fiberglass. They mount by fitting over the lips on the rear edge of the door openings. In the areas behind the panels, room was then available to mount the rear speakers and subwoofer. To give us a separation point for the two-tone leather, we used stock '63 door panel moldings which were reversed and bent to shape to fit the contour of the panels. A new rear panel was also made and covered in two-tone grey. We needed a straight molding to match the '63 door moldings and found that a door molding from a '69 Camaro was the exact same profile. Our Split Personality emblem (made by Austin Barnett Designs from Vetteorama) was added for a finishing touch. (See photo 15: rear compartment)

The floor of the rear compartment was also changed. The major change was to eliminate two storage compartments which was necessary to clear the structure of the tube frame. A new flat panel was installed which levels the floor. We wanted to strengthen the floor so we glued in two 1/2-inch-diameter steel rods in each rib in the floor. A new floor panel was made which was padded and then covered in grey leather. The ceiling and halo panel were covered in the light grey leather, and we used a billet dome light from Phipps Hot Rod Billet. (See photo 16: ceiling and halo panel)

InsulationWe searched for insulation material and found several choices. We decided to use Lizard Skin spray-on ceramic insulation material for its complete coverage, ease of installation, and reduction of both heat and noise. It's applied with a special spray gun and required four gallons of material to achieve the recommended thickness of 0.040 inch. We coated the inner firewall, ceiling, rear compartment, floors, and inner doors. (See photo 17: Lizard Skin insulation)

CarpetingWe had to search for a grey carpeting material to closely match the light grey leather, and found one used in a Porsche that matched well. Custom floor mats were also made on which our Pro-Classic logo was sewn. (See photo 18: carpet and floor mats)

Interior MoldingsAs with the exterior moldings, we also had to obtain all the interior windshield, door, and rear window moldings. Several sources were used to find originals as these aren't reproduced. A custom-mix grey paint was mixed to match the leather and was applied to all the moldings.

Rear View Mirror/MonitorIn Installment 6 we addressed the rearview camera system we installed to improve visibility and showed how we mounted the camera. The monitor for the system (from Rostra Precision Controls) is incorporated into the rear view mirror. To make it appear as original as possible, the mount on the new mirror was modified to fit the stock '63 chrome mirror bracket. Since the mirror/monitor is wider than the stock mirror, the visors also had to be reshaped to clear. (See photo 19: rearview mirror/monitor)

The seats use C5 seat frames and have been upholstered in a style patterned after the '63 design.

Three point seat and shoulder belts were installed for safety.

The gauge housing was painted grey to match the interior, and custom gauges were built to our design by Classic Instruments.

This shows the arrangement we made for the center dash area. It houses two of the four A/C outlets, two new gauges (fuel pressure and exhaust temperature), the audio control, and the Vintage Air control panel.

The fuse panel was moved into the driver-side vent area to allow us to make flush kick and underdash panels.

The new radio panels house additional A/C outlets and speakers.

A passenger-side underdash panel was made to enclose the A/C evaporator unit. Also shown is the passenger-side radio panel.

New kick panels were made for each side. This is a picture of the driver-side panel, which is easily removable to reach the fuse panel.

Driver-side underdash panels were made to enclose that area. Three panels make it easier to install or remove.

The billet clutch, brake, and throttle pedals were made by Lokar. The leading edges of the pedal arms were polished and the sides painted grey. The throttle is a fly-by-wire unit from a C6 Corvette.

A midyear Corvette tilt column from Flaming River was used. The upper portion was painted grey to match the interior, and the lower portion was polished. A smaller diameter steering, also from Flaming River, was covered in two-tone grey leather.

Rear compartment panels were made to smooth the area around the inner wheelwells and also provide space behind them for the eight speakers and subwoofer. Stock 63 door moldings were reversed, reshaped, and cut to length to provide a point of separation between the two-tone grey leather. A matching profile molding was found for use on the back panel.

The door panels were done in the stock '63 pattern and covered in two-tone grey leather. The door pulls were covered in contrasting grey leather.

Braided stainless conduits were used to run the power window wiring between the door and door pillar. The door hinges were also smoothed and recontoured.

A new center console was designed and fabricated which incorporates a center armrest, a small storage compartment, and the power-window switches.

The ceiling and halo panels were padded and covered in light grey leather. The dome light is billet, which matches the courtesy lights. You can also see our logo which was sewn into the headrests.

Lizard Skin spray-in insulation was used on the firewall, ceiling, floor, inner doors, and rear compartment.

Matching grey carpeting was used for the floor, lower door panels, and floor mats.

The rearview mirror incorporates the rearview camera monitor and was adapted to the stock mirror bracket. The visors were reshaped due to the larger width of the mirror. In this shot, you can see a bunch of old boxes from the project stacked behind the car that we've yet to move.

The heater and A/C hoses from the evaporator, along with the drain hose, were run through the passenger-side vent opening to the firewall bulkhead.

The power unit for the audio system is housed under the driver seat and held in place with Velcro. The iPod interface unit is also shown.